A PASSENGER ON LIFE’S ROAD

Seriously, I don’t drive more than I must. Don’t like it when I do. I know I can, which is important (emergencies can happen), but it has been so long since I did much driving, I’ve forgotten the turns and twists in the roads. I’ve always gotten lost easily, but now I am always lost, from start to finish.

Also, I’m used to seeing the world from the other seat. Stuff looks different when you ride shotgun.

It’s how I get all those great fuzzy pictures of road signs and trucks passing us.

Then, of course, there’s flying. Aren’t we all glad I’m not trying that on my own? I have enough trouble navigating the airport.

Happy landings, fellow passengers. Whether you are flying, driving, or just bumping along life’s uneven byways, stay safe. Try to get there in time to board your flight.

30 thoughts on “A PASSENGER ON LIFE’S ROAD”

I am so with you on this one. I was never a gifted driver, but I needed a car to get to work for almost 30 years, driving daily. I needed a car because I had kids, one being handicapped. I just needed a car and one day I no longer needed a car because I was retired and Mr. Swiss was the driver, I am the photographer sitting next to him getting the blurry photos.

I never enjoyed driving and slowly stopped driving, but began again. Then I had body problems (MS) and really stopped driving. Accoding to those that know better, I should drive and so I have begun driving again during the week 3-4 times but I still do not enjoy it. My last flight alone was for my dad’s funeral in London and I swore it was the last flight I would ever take, at least on my own. Trains are fine, they have stations and routes interesting to see and I can take photos on the way.

I wish we had trains here. We have commuter trains, but they don’t stop here thought they do speed through. No buses, either. If I have to drive, i will, but I admit it — I’d really rather not. There was a time when I enjoyed driving, as long as I wasn’t stuck in heavy traffic … but that was a lot of years ago. The last time I drove was when Garry couldn’t. Did it, no problem, but I kind of hate it.

It is. For a big example, this little town has slightly lower population now than it did when we moved here 17 years ago … but at least twice as many cars. People that had one car now have two or three. Everyone drives, from teenagers to people a lot older than me. Everyone needs to park. The town isn’t growing but the automotive population has exploded and this is happening nationally. It makes going anywhere a real pain.

It depends on how you feel about a 10 mile walk — five miles to the other end of town and another five back. Rural doesn’t mean tiny. Cities are small … a few blocks and you’re there. Country miles can be very long 😀

One of the great things about North America is that bad drivers don’t live in one place. They are everywhere there is a road. Old, young, and in the middle, there are an awful lot of people who really can’t drive their cars properly. They drive very fast, spend more time on the phone than looking out the window, don’t slow down when breaking. Can’t seem to make a right turn without swinging left. Ride your bumper no matter WHAT speed you are going. Oh, I could go on and on … And then, there are the ones that ride their brakes all the time …

I’m wondering about how that will change with the advent of the driverless car? Will there be even more cars on the road as the elderly and those otherwise challenged by driving legally (like those who drink to excess) buy a car they would not previously own for the freedom and independence it would give them?

If so traffic may become a whole lot safer than when humans used to drive but the roads would become very much more clogged, possibly increasing the time taken for even short road trips?

It won’t be long now folks! First Uber made taxi drivers redundant next Google will make Uber drivers redundant. Bus drivers and truck/delivery drivers won’t be far behind. Then there’s going to be a lot more competition for the remaining jobs out there; i pity today’s youth looking for work – well – anyone looking for work really.

I have a feeling that it will be a very long time before we see legal driverless cars. Just an opinion, but there are an awful lot of decisions to be made about them. And our states are VERY slow about this kind of thing. It could be 40 or 50 years before they are really on the road. By then, who knows if we will have roads?

You’re quite right to point out the legal sluggishness however there is a very powerful force that will solve it: The technical aspects are now almost entirely ironed out. Autonomous vehicle testing in real life situations (freeways, city and country driving on real roads) have now amassed over a million driving hours around the world with a much lower accident rate than humans could achieve. There are still issues (such as what to do if the computer system or satellite connection ‘crashes’ – most safe option is to simply slowly apply the brakes and park) but they should be resolved by 2020.

But the powerful force will be business need and insurance company/government liability when people start suing the government for not making all cars as safe as the driverless ones are. You already have driverless capability in cars that already are legally on your roadways (currently requiring a driver behind the wheel ‘in case’), Tesla Motors being one of the pioneers.

Here in my city we have a driverless commuter minibus test program (currently speed limited to 25 mph) driving on a smallish section of inner city suburban roadways that can carry up to 14 people and makes regular stops where you can embark and alight. It has run for over four months Mon-Fri from 9 to 3.30pm and has not had a single accident or injury.

AS businesses begin to compete with those companies who use the more economical and safer and more reliable vehicles, and as insurance premiums for car drivers continue to increase, the impetus to have them on our roads will only increase. When has any government ever stood up to business wanting to increase profits via technology?? The end of human driving may be much closer than is currently believed possible.

One motoring authority here in Perth says fully driverless cars will be being licenced for our roads by 2020. If they prove their safety it will cost you (dearly) to choose to not own one.

You may be right. I just have not seen that happen. A lot of stuff that was sure to happen, has happened, but at a MUCH slower pace than anyone expected. We are gradually moving to (for example) wind and solar energy. There is a strong movement to cars that run on a mix of gasoline and electricity … but this has been 40 years (at least) in the making. We’ll see. I think cities like Boston and New York will be the last places. But if you are right, it’ll interesting.

I believe the technological revolution we have seen so far is nothing compared to what’s going to happen in the next 20 years. Technology itself is contributing to an ever-increasing rate of change and is making machines themselves a viable and invaluable and ever increasingly necessary contributing part of the design and implementation processes formerly exclusively that of the human brain.

There are some major changes coming to society and most of us won’t know what hit us when they do. 😦

This made me laugh. Only because the last time we drove to the airport, Lynn DID miss her flight. She told me we had to leave by 5 am the latest for her flight at 6:20. I was not the problem. She woke up in time but couldn’t get herself together. Missed her flight by 5 minutes. On a different note, my dad stopped driving when he turned 90. I became his chauffeur and took him shopping and to doctors for the last two years of his life. I enjoy driving but hate other drivers. No matter how fast i’m going, someone always has to pass.

There is always some nitwit who is on your bumper even when you are already exceeding the speed limit by 20 miles an hour. I just get out of the way. I’d rather let them do their thing than be in their way if they get really crazy.

I’m not 90 yet, though sometimes, I feel like it. I didn’t always love driving, especially in heavy traffic, but I never felt unsure of my reflexes and ability to react quickly. Now, I do. I am making very slow progress, and one of these days, I may change my mind. But it is slow and I’m not getting younger.

I’ve been overtaken by some daredevils lately who come up fast behind me, then swerve at the last minute to avoid hitting me and pass so closely that I swear our side view mirrors kiss. Then they cut in front of me. And I’m driving 80-85 miles an hour!

Yup. They were like that in Canada until they put up airplanes and started bringing the drivers under control. Someone did that do us on a bridge into Montreal. They jumped the middle divider to get past us … and Garry was going closer to 90 than 85. I looked at him and I said “These people are NUTS.”

They also did this in Ireland on roads with hundreds of foot drops down to the rocks. We left the road. It was difficult enough driving on the opposite side, but those were NARROW twisting roads and they were passing us. Terrifying.

Regarding those bumper drivers: clearly their logic is that the speed limit on any particular stretch of road must be whatever the driver in front of them is doing. It is their prerogative to then travel the mandatory 9 mph in excess of that so they can get to where they’re going quicker without going fast enough to merit police action. Getting out of their way is the wisest choice of action 😉